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SAVING CALIFORNIA'S 
REDWOODS 



"BY J 



D* G R A N T- 



EXCERPTS FROM THREE ADDRESSES 

BY J. D. GRANT, CHAIRMAN OF THE 

BOARD OF DIRECTORS, SAVE THE 

REDWOODS LEAGUE 

i At Eureka, California 
1 1 At Palisades Interstate Park, New York 
in At Stanford University 

[With Illustrations showing Redwood Groves already saved] 
Front cover photo by H. C. Tibbitts 
Back cover photo by Pillsbury Picture Co. 



Published by the 
SAVE THE REDWOODS LEAGUE 

Library BIdg. 

University of California 

Berkeley, Calif. 




Scene from "Ersa of the Red Trees", a play and pageant directed by Garnet Holme, 
and produced by the Mountain, Desert and Forest Players, headed by Katharane Edson, 
in the Big Basin and at the Giant Forest. The theme is the saving of the Redwoods 



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AFTER THE DEDICATION OF 

BOLLING MEMORIAL 

GROVE 

[ MEETING WITH CITIZENS OF EUREKA, CALIFORNIA] 




HE Redwoods belong to the nation, yet Humboldt County 
may well be proud of the distinction she receives because 
these matchless forests happen to be located here. Hum- 
boldt County has in the Redwoods an asset of incalculable 
value, and we are fortunate that her citizens have been 
farsighted enough to lead the fight against their destruction. These 
workers have been the first line of defence. The state and nation are 
now coming to their aid. There is a growing realization of the charm and 
beauty of the Redwoods. Travelers are visiting them from all parts 
of the United States. But this is only the beginning. In years to come, 
if we save these trees as we propose to do, thousands upon thousands will 
journey to this part of California to see the greatest and oldest of living 
things. 

Dr. John C. Merriam tells us that there was a time when the Redwood 
flourished throughout the northern hemisphere and pretty much over the 
whole world. Changing temperatures, varying conditions of moisture, 
the aggressive rivalry of other growths, have slowly forced it from point 
to point to a final retreat in California. Even here it is not supreme. 
Nature's forces, defined in the oak, the pine, the laurel and a thousand 



■• 2 

Publish^ 
JAN «19*1 




Photo by California State Forester 

The highway winding through the Redwoods. These trees, thousands of years old, 
if once destroyed cannot be replaced for many generations to come. 



other forms, still meet it. But as in its days of universal empire the 
Redwood stands erect, its head in the stars, its feet firmly clasped to earth. 
In this kindly clime, in this sympathetic soil, here where the airs are sweet 
and where along our salubrious coast there is abundant moisture, the 
Redwood may still hold its place and defy both its rivals and its enemies — 
all save man! We who are here today, with those whom we represent, 
are associated for aid and protection of this remnant of a great race, so 
to speak, proud and beautiful as in the days of its widespread glory. Here 
it may withstand all assaults save those of man. From the destructive 
hand of man we are organized to save it. 

The Redwood has been witnesser of great events. It has stood sentinel 
over a thousand changes in the structure and order of the material world. 
In the passing centuries it has witnessed, if not the birth of man, at least 
man's development from the lowest estate. It has seen the rise of civiliza- 
tion. It has looked upon the growth and fall of empires. No phase of 
history, cosmic or human, has disturbed its serenity or marred its dignity. 
In this, its last stand, the Redwood holds itself vital, proud and beautiful. 

The appeal of the Redwood 
for protection by those who 
love impressiveness and 
beauty, is a solemn, dignified 
appeal. The Redwood is no 
cringer for favor. It makes no 
truckling plea. Still erect, 
with head still in the stars, it 
is silent, save for its whisper- 
ings under kindly summer 
breezes and its soughings 
under the stress of winter 
storms. If it is to be saved 
it will not be in servility, but 
in dignity and nobility. 

In this thought, for us, 
volunteers in its cause, there 
should be high inspiration. 




Photo by N. B. Drury 
A Sequoia turned to stone at the Petrified Forest, 
Sonoma County. 



II. 



THE REDWOODS 



AND THE STATE PARK MOVEMENT IN CALIFORNIA 

[At National Conference on State Parks, Palisades Interstate Park, New York, 
May 22-25, '922 ] 






HREE years ago, there came to my office in San Francisco 
an old friend. He had just returned from a camping trip 
in Northern California. With two other distinguished 
Americans, he had been spending a wonderful vacation 
among the Redwoods in Northern California. But on 
their return, he and his companions had been depressed and saddened 
by traveling along what is now the California State Highway, "The 
Highway of the Giants", and seeing acres upon acres of once beautiful 
Redwood Forest hacked and burned and rendered a desolate waste 
through lumbering operations. 

"Is there not", he said, 
"some way in which this 
terrible devastation can be . 
stopped ? Does not California 
intend to save for posterity 
some of her priceless Red- 
woods?" 

This man was Madison 
Grant. His companions were 
John C. Merriam and Henry 
Fairfield Osborn. Madison 
Grant's words rekindled in 
my own mind a long-cherished 
intent to do something to- 
wards saving a part of the 
California Redwoods. 

Importance of Redwoods 

To us early Californians 
Redwood has meant a great 
deal economically and indus- 
trially. We have always 
looked upon our supply as 
practically inexhaustible, and Photo b y Andrew p. mi 

it i<; with a start that \\re> Uo\rt> 0n . the "Redwood Highway" in Sonoma County, 

It IS WlCn a Start mat We nave before the Redwood belt is reached. The brown 

recenflv realized that the end rollin e hills, dotted with .oaks, are a pleasant contrast 
lecentiy redlizeu mdC me ena to the more rugged scenery further north. 





Photo by Dr. J. C. Phillips 
In Mendocino County, on the "Redwood Highway", just before reaching the 
Redwood belt. Redwoods are seen on the skyline. 



of this supply is measurably in sight. And it is significant that Calif- 
ornia's first interest in the State Parks Movement has been shown in 
the preservation of natural objects which are unique and distinctively 
Californian — the Redwoods. Three years ago we established in Calif- 
ornia the Save the Redwoods League, whose object was to preserve 
for posterity the finest representative areas of Sequoia sempervirens, or 
Redwoods. Nowhere in the entire world are these trees found except 
along the Northern California coast. They share with the Sequoia gigantea 
of the Sierra the distinction of being the oldest and grandest of living 
things. Construction of the California State Highway through the north- 
ern counties made these trees accessible and gave facilities for lumbering 
operations that threatened to destroy for all time the beauty and mag- 
nificence of one of the greatest scenic routes in America. We therefore 
banded together and came to the assistance of these "giants making 
their last stand". 

The Redwood Belt 
The original Redwood Belt is a remnant of the massive forests of this 
and related species that in prehistoric times covered a considerable part 
of the northern hemisphere. It averages 20 miles in width and extends 
some 450 miles from Monterey County, California, to just above the 
Oregon line. In the Southern part of this belt, in Santa Cruz County, the 
State of California, in 1901, established a State Park, preserving what is 
known as the Big Basin, containing many magnificent trees. Muir Woods, 
on the slopes of Mt.Tamalpais, has already been made a National Monu- 
ment. And now, as a part of the Save the Redwoods movement, the 
nucleus of another State Park has been preserved in the northern portion 
of the Redwood Belt, in Humboldt County in the basin of the South 
Fork of the Eel River, and adjoining the California State Highway. 

Humboldt State Park 

The Humboldt State Redwood Park, which is the beginning of a larger 
area to be preserved, consists of about 2000 acres, extending 14 miles 
along the California State Highway, where it skirts the eastern bank of 




Photo by Dr. J. C. Phillips 
A coast scene in Del Norte County, on the "Redwood Highway". In beauty and 
variety, this is one of the wonderful scenic drives of the world. 

the South Fork of the Eel River, between Phillipsville and Dyerville. It 
contains perhaps 200 million feet of some of the finest Redwoods. 

The Humboldt State Redwood Park is 230 miles from San Francisco 
on the main State Highway leading to Eureka, California. It is adminis- 
tered for the State by the California State Forestry Board. Accessible 
through the year by train or motor, it affords unexcelled recreational 
opportunities to the motorist, the camper and the lover of the great 
out-of-doors. 

Boiling Memorial Grove 

One of the tracts of Redwood timber to be saved for future generations 
is the Boiling Memorial Grove, which is within the Humboldt State 
Park. It was established by Dr. John C. Phillips of Massachusetts, in 
memory of Colonel Raynal C. Boiling, the first American officer of high 
rank to give his life in the World War. Last summer we dedicated this 
grove. It was most impressive not only because of the eloquent words of 
John C. Merriam, Madison Grant and others, but also because of the 
appropriateness of Dr. Phillips' act in creating this ever-living memorial 
of majestic Sequoia sempervirens. 

California is trying to do her share to prevent the annihilation of the 
Redwoods. We have saved a part of the "Highway of the Giants" as 
part of a State Park. We have interested our county governments in 
the establishment of public parks and memorial groves. We have 
aroused the consciousness of the nation to the fact that there must be 
saved a large area — at least 20,000 acres of primitive Redwood forest — 
to be kept inviolate as a national park. And since we cannot hope to 
raise more than a fraction of the sum necessary for this purpose through 
state or county appropriation, the immediate need of Federal action 
toward the establishment of such a park on behalf of all of our citizens 
becomes the more manifest. 




'The Mystery of the Forest"— a view in the heart of the Redwood belt in Humboldt Count; 
Madison Grant says: "We have reason to believe that no finer forest e\ 




Photo by H. C. Tibbitts 



ornia. These trees, from 700 to 2000 years of age, represent the Redwoods in their finest form, 
exist on earth during the millions of years sinoe vegetable life first appeared". 




Photo by N. B. Drury 
The type of desolation which has been prevented along the "Highway of the Giants", 
through the efforts of the Save the Redwoods League, cooperating with the State 
Forestry Board and the officials of Humboldt County. 



III. 




SAVING CALIFORNIA'S 
REDWOODS 

AT LELAND STANFORD, JR. UNIVERSITY, OCTOBER 25, 1922 

WICE during the past two years I have had brought home 
to me the beauty and the unique value of the Redwoods. 
Once, in Humboldt County, when in the summer of 1 92 1 , 
a group of lovers of the Redwoods met in the open to 
dedicate Boiling Memorial Grove, in memory of Colonel 
Raynal C. Boiling, first American officer of high rank to fall in the 
World War. And again, this summer in Santa Cruz County, when a 
troupe of players, at night in the Big Basin, presented the play and pageant, 
"Ersa of the Red Trees". Both times my mind went back to recollec- 
tions of the Redwoods near Pescadero, where I spent part of my boy- 
hood, and to my keen disappointment, when, returning in later years, I 
found that once beautiful forest turned to a waste of blackened stumps. 

If anyone asks: "Why have a group of 'practical' men turned aside 
from personal affairs and devoted themselves wholeheartedly to this 
movement to Save the Redwoods?", surely the answer is found in such 
incidents as I have cited. 

But there are a number of reasons for saving the Redwoods. First of 
all, we are saving them as trees of indescribable beauty ; next, we are saving 
them as one of the scientific wonders of the world; finally, we are saving 
them as a great economic asset of the state and nation. 

10 



Without the experience at first hand, it is 
impossible to visualize the impressiveness and 
beauty of the Redwood area in its primitive 
state. The gigantic size of the trees, im- 
pressive as it is, is but one of many features 
making this area a veritable wonderland. The 
scenic beauty is marvelous and ever-changing. 
Dense stands of timber, beneath whose branches 
there is eternal twilight, cover canyons and 
hillsides, river bottoms and flats. Sometimes 
they reach to the very ocean's edge. Through 
the moving branches, three hundred feet aloft, 
occasional shafts of sunlight dart — striking the 
bright green of luxuriant under-growth and 
delicate ferns or, in the springtime, a profusion 
of tender wildflowers, sharply in contrast 
to the massive cinnamon-colored trunks of 
these ancient trees. 





Grape stakes from thousand- 
year-old Sequoias. 

There is also the scientific interest of the 
Redwoods — their extreme age and scarcity, 
and the interesting habits of their growth. 
Mankind, after countless centuries of indif- 
ference, has at last become concerned with all 
matters pertaining to the origin and history 
of life. In the Redwoods we have a chapter 
in the book of life earlier by far than many 
that are to be read only through painstaking 
excavation and years of research. 

The Sequoia of California have been likened 
to an ancient race of giants making their last 
stand. Thousands 



Redwood Products 



of years ago, trees 
of their sort 
covered much of 
the northern hem- 
isphere. Geolog- 
ists tell us from their study of fossil remains 
that this family dates back not only 
thousands, but millions of years — to the early 
stages in the formation of the world as we now 
know it. During the glacial period all were 
blotted out except a few groves representing 
two species: the Big Tree (Sequoia gigantea) 
in the Sierra of California and the Redwood 
(Sequoia sempervirens) along the Northern 
California coast. Thus the Redwoods repre- 
sent, with the Big Trees of the Sierra, the 
remnants of a family of trees now otherwise 
extinct. 




Railroad ties cut from giant 
Redwoods. 



11 




Photo by Herbert Gleason 

"Through the moving branches, three hundred feet aloft, occasional shafts of sun- 
light dart— striking the bright green of luxuriant undergrowth, or, m the springtime 
a profusion of delicate wildflowers, sharply in contrast to the massive cinnamon- 
colored trunks of these ancient trees." 



12 



To one accustomed to ordinary trees, the tales of the Redwood forest 
seem unbelievable — thousands upon thousands of trees, ten to eighteen 
feet in diameter, towering three hundred to three hundred and seventy- 
five feet toward the heavens. Many of these Sequoia now standing were 
here before the birth of Christ, and many were full grown trees long before 
Columbus discovered America. 

Another reason for conserving the Redwoods is a decidedly material 
one. I refer to their economic value — not alone as lumber, but as an 
asset to the state. This value will certainly increase as the years go on. 

After considerable effort the Save the Redwoods League has finally 
persuaded the authorities, both county and state, that the Redwoods, 
standing, are of much greater potential value than they would be if cut 
up into lumber. The trees are for all time; the timber vanishes. The 
Redwoods are drawing increasing thousands of people to California. 
Particularly is this true of those trees which line our traveled highways. 
The "Redwood Highway" is one of the wonders of the world. The build- 
ing of roads by the state, and by the Federal government, particularly 
a new road along the Klamath River, has finally opened the Redwood 
Belt to the public, and before long this region, because of excellent roads 
and climate that is always temperate, will be for countless tourists an 
all-year-round playground, adding much to the health and outdoor enjoy- 
ment of the nation. 

Facts About the Redwood Area 

Figures from the Forest Service show that the original Redwood timber 
area comprised 1,406,393 acres. Up to the present year, 1922, approxi- 
mately 455,269 acres of these trees have been cut. The remaining stand 
of virgin Redwood timber is therefore 951,000 acres, or a little less than 
a million. Forest Service figures further show that this area is being cut 
over at the rate of 6,500 acres per year. 

At this rate, and allowing for only the normal increase of cutting due to 
expanding markets for Redwood, all of the original trees will disappear in 
the next 100 years. The most conservative government estimate is 150 
years. Moreover, the rate of cutting is bound to increase very greatly 
within the next generation or two. And, the most important considera- 
tion is this: That the Redwoods in their finest form and in the regions where 
they are most accessible to the public are already rapidly disappearing. Most 
of these will be gone within the next ten years. The best Redwoods are 
being cut first. It is these that must be saved. 

Let me say a word on an important subject, that of reforestation. It 
is claimed that Redwood trees can be reproduced by sprouting from the 
stump so that within 40 to 50 years they represent merchantable timber. 
This is true. But this does not help to save the ancient giants. The 
"second growth" Redwoods are not in size, quality or appearance in any 

13 




Photo by Mrs. E. E. Ayer 
Grove at Phillipsville saved by 
Mrs. James Hobart Moore 
and Mr. E. E. Ayer. 

And last year, in 1921, the 
California State Legislature, 
at the instance of the Save the 
Redwoods League, appropri- 
ated $300,000 to save some of 
the finest trees along the four- 
teen mile stretch of highway 
between Miranda and Dyer- 
ville, Humboldt County, in 
the basin of the South Fork 
of the Eel. This appropri- 
ation made possible the Hum- 
boldt State Redwood Park, 
which is the beginning of a 
larger area to be preserved. 
It consists of about 2000 
acres. It is 230 miles from 
San Francisco on the main 



way comparable to the 
thousand-year-old "Sequoia 
sempervirens" that constitute 
one o f America's priceless 
treasures. They are totally 
different trees, and will 
remain so — at least for a 
thousand years. 

Years ago, in 1901, the 
State of California, urged by 
the Sempervirens Club, gave 
evidence of her interest when 
almost the sole remaining 
original stand of Redwoods 
in Santa Cruz County, in the 
"Big Basin, "was made a State 
Park — at a cost of $250,000. 



Photo by N. B. Drury 

In Gould Grove, saved through the co-operation 

of Mrs. Frederic Saltonstall Gould, in memory of 

her husband, Dr. Frederic Saltonstall Gould, "a 

lover of trees". 



14 




Photo by Mrs. E. E. Ayer 
A Fallen Giant. Thousands of years to grow. A few hours to cut. 



State Highway leading to Eureka, California. It is administered for the 
State by the California State Forestry Board. 

Lumbermen Help 

The work of the Save the Redwoods League has been done in a spirit 
of fair-play toward the lumbermen and they in turn, have given us full 
cooperation. The Redwood industry has been an important factor in 
California's development, and we have found that the men engaged in 
it are, on the whole, sympathetic toward the object of our movement. 
They do not want to see the finest of the Redwoods perish. They do not 
want to have our highways traverse scenes of desolation. Four lumber 
companies have already made gifts of Redwood timber to the League. 

Organizations Aid Movement 

The Sempervirens Club of San Jose, under their late president, Andrew 
P. Hill, and their present leader, Mr. Murgotten, have been pioneers in 
this movement. Organizations such as the Sierra Club, the Elks and 
the Native Sons and Daughters of the Golden West are also interest- 
ing themselves. The Bohemian Grove, of course, is an example of 
preservation of a fine Redwood stand by a California organization. 
Here, under ideal conditions, the club produces its annual Grove Play. 

In this connection a thought occured to me as I witnessed the pro- 
duction of the Mountain, Forest and Desert Players in the Big Basin 
this summer. It seemed to me that the movement which this Redwood 
play represents is one that should spread and undoubtedly, with proper 
encouragement, will spread throughout the United States, each com- 
munity using its characteristic forests as the setting for outdoor plays 
and pageants. As you know, the Bohemian Club years ago established 
the precedent for such plays on a more elaborate scale; but here we have 
an adaptation of the idea in simpler form and suitable for the use and 
enjoyment of great masses of our population, the productions relying for 
their effect mainly upon the beautiful setting furnished by the Redwoods. 
Through the medium of these productions much can be accomplished. 



15 



Future Preservation 

Now let me say a word about the objects and the future activities of 
the Save the Redwoods League. 

The aims of the League, briefly stated, are three-fold : first, to save as 
complete a stretch of timber along the main highways of the state as is 
feasible; second, to aid in the administration of our forests, both standing 
and cut-over, to the end that through scientific forestry and refor- 
estation, future generations may gain their maximum use and enjoyment. 
And third, to bring about through Federal appropriation, a Redwood 
National Park, in keeping with the other units in the National Park 
System. It should be truly representative of the Redwoods in their 
maturity, and should be of adequate size — probably not less than 20,000 
acres. The area selected should have the scenic features which are most 
characteristic of the Redwood region, should be accessible, and should 
present adequate opportunities for recreation. 

In 1920, Congress passed a resolution calling for an investigation by 
the Secretary of the Interior on this subject of a Redwood National Park. 
A survey has been made in accordance with this resolution. 

A "Highway of the Giants" 

While the establishment of a Redwood National Park is the most 
essential part of the plan to save the Redwoods, the preservation of the 
trees along the highways which will lead to the park is also most impor- 
tant. This is the present task of the League. Ultimately there will be 
in California a "Highway of the Giants," traversing the entire original Red- 
wood region from "The Southern Sentinel", southernmost Redwood in 
the world, a few miles below Monterey, to the northernmost tree of this 
species a few miles above the California-Oregon line, and connecting each 
of the isolated groves of Sequoia sempervirens which have been saved, 
such as, for instance, the State Park in the Big Basin, the famous Santa 
Cruz Grove, Muir Woods in Marin County, the Armstrong Grove in 
Sonoma County, the Humboldt Redwood Park, and the various groves 
farther north, until the highway culminates in the Redwood National Park. 




Photo by N. B. Drury 
One of the groves being favorably considered by the Concatenated Order 
of Hoo-Hoos, the Lumbermen's fraternal organization. 

16 __ 

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